Dental caries prevalence in Vietnamese children and teenagers in three London boroughs.
Over one quarter of the 20,000 Vietnamese refugees resident in Britain live in the London boroughs of Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark. Examination of 268 Vietnamese children showed a high caries rate in deciduous teeth and a low rate in permanent teeth. Five-year-olds had a mean dmft of 8.3 and none were caries free. The mean dmft was significantly related to the length of time the children had lived in Britain. Factors affecting the severity of dental caries in young Vietnamese children are discussed. Interviews with parents indicated that bottle feeding habits were being adopted for their children born in the UK. The results are compared with studies on Vietnamese refugees in other countries.
Todd
R
R
Department of Community Dental Health, King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry, St. Giles Hospital, London.
Gelbier
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001903:Bottle Feeding; D001942:Breast Feeding; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004245:DMF Index; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008131:London; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D013997:Time Factors; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous; D014744:Vietnam / Q000208:ethnology